Guns N’ Roses Cut Song With Racist and Anti-Gay Slurs From Reissue

Guns N' Roses recently announced a huge new box set reissue of their 1987 album Appetite for Destruction, featuring dozens of bonus tracks. Among the extra tracks are all of the songs from Guns N' Roses' 1988 EP G N’ R Lies... except for one. As Stereogum points out (via Alternative Nation), the song “One in a Million,” in which Axl Rose sings racist and anti-gay slurs, and expresses anti-immigrant sentiments, has been omitted.

“One in a Million” was extremely controversial and condemned by many upon its release. In a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone, frontman Axl Rose (who wrote the song) defended his lyrics. “Why can black people go up to each other and say, 'nigger," but when a white guy does it all of a sudden it's a big putdown?,” he said. “I don't like boundaries of any kind. I don't like being told what I can and what I can't say. I used the word 'nigger' because it's a word to describe somebody that is basically a pain in your life, a problem. The word 'nigger' doesn't necessarily mean black.”

At one point in the song, Axl sings, “Immigrants and faggots/They make no sense to me/They come to our country/And think they'll do as they please.” When asked why he singled out immigrants and homosexuals, he recounted “bad experiences” with both groups. “Maybe I should have been more specific and said, ‘Joe Schmoladoo at the 7-11 and faggots make no sense to me,’” he said. “That's ridiculous! I summed it up simply and said, ‘Immigrants.’”

The original cover artwork for G N’ R Lies included a preemptive apology regarding “One in a Million” that read, “This song is very simple and extremely generic or generalized, my apologies to those who may take offense.” Pitchfork has reached out to reps for Guns N’ Roses for further information about the box set release.